Archive for the ‘Football’ Category

The Mahoning Valley Thunder dropped a heartbreaker to The Albany Firebirds, 50-41, in Albany Saturday night.  The Thunder, under new mentor Brennan Booth, came out firing and took a 12-point lead to the locker room at halftime.  The defense could not do much against Albany in the second half as The Firebirds scored on five straight possessions.  The Thunder could only muster 14 second half points. 

The loss lowered The Thunder to 1-5 and Albany improved to 1-5.  Mahoning Valley has not won a road game in almost two years. 

The combination of Firebirds QB Stephen Wasil and WR Johnny Butler combined for five touchdowns.  Wasil finished the game 26-40 for 278 yards and Butler caught nine Wasil passes for 154 yards.

Blake Powers was able to come back from a shoulder injury and finished the game 21-39 for a career-high 251 yards and five touchdowns.  Quorey Payne led The Thunder receivers with six catches for 94 yards and three touchdowns.

The Thunder return home this Friday night when powerhouse Wilkes-Barre rolls into The Covelli Center.

The Cleveland Browns 2009 Draft Class was a bunch of things.  The Browns were wise to trade their pick to The Jets.  Think about it, Mark Sanchez was something they did not need and Michael Crabtree was someone they did not want.  Made good sense to me to get an extra pick and a few players.  Who knew what players to get from The Jets better than Eric Mangini since he coached them last year.

Here is a complete list of what the Browns did:

• Alex Mack, C, Cal (1st Rd., #21)
• Brian Robiskie, WR, Ohio State (2nd Rd., #36)
• Mohamed Massaquoi, WR, Georgia (2nd Rd., #50)
• David Veikune, LB/DE, Hawaii (2nd Rd., #52)
• Kaluka Maiava, LB, USC (4th Rd., #104)
• Don Carey, CB, Norfolk State (6th Rd., #177)
• Coye Francies, CB, San Diego State (6th Rd., #191)
• James Davis, RB, Clemson (6th Rd., #195)
• Players obtained in Jets trade – QB Brett Ratliff, S Abram Elam, DE Kenyon Coleman
• Also have Graham Harrell signed.

Overall, the Browns did a good job filling their biggest needs.  I think they took Robiskie a bit soon.  He will never be an impact wide receiver in the NFL.  Look for him to be more of a Joe Jurivicius type third down possession receiver.  Massaquoi is the big play guy.  It is odd for a center to be taken in the first round, but Alex Mack is head and shoulders above the other centers available in this years crop.

Overall Grade: B-

Talking to Mike Hold after this past weeks Thunder game was disheartening.  I felt bad for him because he could not seem to put his thumb on why the team looked like it was in a daze at times.  The Thunder management has fired Hold , 11-26 in two plus seasons, saying that it felt like the organization needed to make a change on the field in order to get things moving in the right direction.

Hold will be replaced by Defensive Coordinator Brennen Booth.  Booth has boatloads of experience coaching football, mostly in arena leagues and will serve on an interim basis.  The Thunder hired Andy Kelly, former Tennessee quarterback to take over as offensive coordinator.  Kelly was awesome as a Vol QB and ranks among the all-time best in their record books. 

The Thunder play at Albany this weekend.  The Firebirds are 0-5 this season and lost to The Thunder 44-34 in week one.  It seems like a logical game for Coach Booth to get his feet wet and hopefully secure a win.

The Tulsa Talons rolled through Youngstown and left with a convincing 66-30 victory over The Mahoning Valley Thunder.  The Talons got 9 touchdown passes from Justin Allgood and WR/KR Jeff Hughley racked up 216 all-purpose yards.  To make the loss worse, Mahoning Valley has some real issues at quarterback.  Starter Blake Powers jammed his shoulder and was forced to leave the game.  “I got hit pretty hard and it just sent a shock up my arm“, Powers told me after the game.  Replacement Davon Vinson was just plain ineffective the majority of the time he was in.

The game started promising enough as The Thunder took the opening kickoff and scored on a Powers 23-yard pass to Quorey Payne.  Tulsa jumped ahead 20-7 on three Justin Allgood touchdown passes.  With the score 20-7, Quorey Payne took a kickoff all the way back for an apparent touchdown.  The points were denied due to an illegal block in the back.  The big momentum shift really hurt The Thunder.  “Anytime a big play like that gets called back, it hurts us bad“, said Payne.

Tulsa blew coverage on a Powers to De’Tario Frederick 27-yard TD.  There was no defender 20 yards near Frederick as Powers got an easy one.  After an exchange of quick touchdowns, Derek Shorejs kicked a 32-yard FG with no time left in the half to cut The Talons lead to 38-23.

Tulsa scored to make the score 46-23 on another Allgood toss of 18 yards.  On the ensuing drive and The Thunder on Tulsa’s  three yard line, Powers tried a keeper to the left and got planted, shoulder first, into the Cortland Banks Field turf.  Powers finished the drive, but would not return with a bruised shoulder.  Tulsa scored the games final twenty points to make the final score 66-30.

When Davon Vinson took over for Blake Powers, the offense really looked out of sync.  Powers spent most of the first three quarters running for his life and really took a beating.  Vinson could not seem to do much to contribute to the offense.  He too, had a lack of protection, but when he could get a pass off, it was usually thrown poorly.  Vinson also coughed the ball up on The Talons one yard line.

Thunder Coach Mike Hold was disappoined with his teams performance.  “It is really disheartening to go through practice all week thinking we have a chance, only to come out like this.  We need to re-evaluate some things and keep trying.”  Coach Hold knows that his Thunder team can put forth a better effort and stressed how crucial turnovers can be when playing a team the caliber of Tulsa.  “You can’t get away with turnovers and mistakes against a team like Tulsa, it always ends up coming back to get you and we couldn’t stop them or move the ball.  We need better consistency on both sides.”

Tulsa Coach Mitch Allner praised the toughness of The Thunder saying that the score didn’t indicate how close of a game it was and that he was happy with the performance of his team.  “We were fortunate to create a few turnovers and capitalize on them when we needed to.“

The Thunder threw three interceptions, two to the Aaron’s Defensive Player of The Game, Pierre Thomas.  “Pierre made a couple of great plays for us tonight.  He used the schemes that we worked on in practice to have two very important takeaways for our team tonight”, said Allner.

The Thunder travel to New York to face The Albany Firebirds next weekend.   I will be writing another Thunder article this week about all of the great stuff that happens when play is stopped and the reaction the fans have to the giveaways and contests.  Look for my Albany preview here on Friday!

The Cincinnati Bengals and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson are agreeing to disagree.  Make no mistake about it, Johnson wants out.  The Bengals front office said Johnson is staying put and will be in a Bengal uniform for the 2009 season.  So it looks like Johnson will be a miserable and pouty member of The Bengals all year, unless…

In recent developments, Bengals officials have made it clear that they are interested with getting Michael Crabtree.  They have the sixth overall pick in the draft Saturday.  Cleveland, originally claiming they would take Crabtree, stated they are no longer interested in The Texas Tech star.  This would probably slide him to #6 and make him a Bengal.  If they do get Crabtree, look for Ochocinco to get peddled right through the door on draft day.  Philadelphia, Dallas, and even Cleveland are possible destinations for the cocky Johnson.

If none of this works out, he can get back to working on his swimming career.  After all, Johnson claimed last Summer that he could swim faster than Michael Phelps. 

The Bengals, one of The NFL’s truly struggling franchises the last couple of years need to consider what kind of player Johnson will be if retained.  Johnson can be a baby, I can just see him whining until he gets traded at the end of the season.  Cut your losses, get him out and make a harmonius marriage for Carson Palmer with someone who wants to be a Bengal.

The above provided video is proof that Ochocinco is all about himself.  He is the star athlete who probably drives his agent crazy and could care less what anyone thinks about his team.  It’s all about him.  He is selfish, underhanded, and the type of player who should worry more about doing great things in the NFL instead of what celebration to use if he does something great.

I’m “85%” sure  he will not be a Bengal.

Mahoning Valley Thunder Coach Mike Hold thinks his team stands a better chance in week 5 against The Tulsa Talons than they did in week 3.  Tulsa blasted The Thunder in week 3, 79-35, in Tulsa. Coach Hold said, ” We feel more comfortable heading into this game because we saw them two weeks ago.  Now we have a good idea on what they like to do and how we match up, at the same time, they have a feel for our play calling and personnel.  They showed us that they’re an extremely physical team and their offense can beat you in a number of ways.  If we can limit the mistakes we made in week 3 we can be successful.”

In order for The Thunder to have a chance, the defense has to play better.  In the first four weeks of the season the defense has let every team score more points than the previous weeks opponent.  Tulsa (3-1) took it to Mahoning Valley in week 3, beating the Thunder 79-35.  Tulsa Coach Mitch Allner has a lifetime 29-7 record and has never lost to The Thunder.

I feel that QB Blake Powers will have a bigger week.  Last week was Powers first start and he played pretty good.  Powers threw for three scores and ran in another two.  The University of Indiana product was making his first start against Wilkes-Barre.  With this start look for Powers to play with more confidence and remain productive.

Powers favorite target is Quorey Payne who had 8 catches for 173 yards last week.  Payne is putting up great numbers and even returned a kickoff 50 yards to finish the Wilkes-Barre game with 351 all-purpose yards, a Mahoning Valley Thunder franchise record.  Payne has 435 receiving yards through the first four games and I am sure he will be hungry to keep putting numbers up.

The Talons are loaded with home grown talent boasting a roster with ten Oklahoma players.  Tulsa beat Iowa 58-31 last week.  Talons QB Justin Allgood was 32-49 for 148 yards with 8 TD against Iowa last week.  The Central Oklahoma product does a good job distributing the ball to Jermaine Landrum and Zac Edwards.

Mahoning Valley will need to step up their game to pull off this upset.  If the defense can play a little better and the offense can exceed production they have a good chance of winning.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 at The Chevy Center.

I am hoping to see a few Blake Powers to Quorey Payne touchdowns in the near future.  I received media credentials to cover The Mahoning Valley Thunder for this season.  I am excited about the opportunity and hope to give the team additional exposure through this website. 

I was a waterboy when Al Boggia coached the Youngstown Hardhats in the 1970’s.  Since then, the Youngstown area has only had great high school football, Youngstown State, and either Cleveland or Pittsburgh as an outlet for professional fandom.  What I like most about the local AF2 Thunder playing at The Chevy Center is that they are working hard to put people in the seats.  I see great promotions everywhere — everything from buy one-get one free, to family discounts (which include tickets, food, and refreshments), to entertainment besides the game, at the game.  It is an honest effort that I respect.

The Thunder play in the AF2 league.  Arena football is like a hamster race until you can get used to the speed of the game.  Players have to go both ways, almost like at Lowellville High School, but on a much grander scale.  I enjoy this brand of football and look forward to bringing my readers to better know and support The Mahoning Valley Thunder!

The Thunder has gotten off to a rocky start so far in 2009.  The squad fell to 1-3 this past weekend at the hands of The Wilkes-Barre Pioneers, who are 6-0 all-time against Mahoning Valley Thunder teams.  The team returns home this weekend for a 7:05 PM  Saturday game against Tulsa.  Hopefully The Cortland Banks Field inside The Chevy Center can produce some magic for the home team!

Chris “Beanie” Wells is going to be drafted Saturday.  I am not sure who will get him but I know the New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, and Seattle Seahawks are all interested.  The above clip is Beanie at his very best.  Finding a hole in a big game, ripping through it and using that fifth gear that he is supposed to be too big to have.  A few factors teams better look at before drafting Beanie…

He likes to jump over oncoming tacklers.  He pulled this stunt three times last season.  If he wants to have children and speak at normal octaves he better revert to a stiffarm in the future.  Seriously, it looks brilliant but is one of the stupidest things a player can do.

He has a history with fumbles.  This is the one thing that absolutely will drive any NFL coach nuts.  If the running backs are fumbling often, they will see less playing time.  Beanie led the Big-10 in fumbles in 2006 and did a little better each year. 

He is not durable.  Each year Beanie has played, he has been hurt.  I was so mad when Ohio State played Texas because he was not in the game at times when he would have flourished.  All athletes get hurt, I understand this, but play with a little pain.  This is going to be his biggest hurdle in the pros. 

As a biased Ohio State football fan, I wish I could make him the best running back in the draft.  I am thankful for the performances he delivered when 100% and in the right frame of mind.  I root for every Ohio State alumnus who plays in the NFL, and there are a few.  But, I am not so sure Beanie can handle the pounding his body will take at the next level.  Fair warning to the teams looking to draft Beanie Wells, beef up the medical staff.  Unless the conditions are perfect physically, he will be watching. 

If Beanie succeeds at the next level it will be because the team that he is playing for motivated him to be a better running back.  I hope he succeeds.

Youngstown State Football enjoyed a wealth of success under Jim Tressel in the 1990’s.  Jon Heacock has had the toughest task ever assigned on Wick Avenue, to keep what Tressel started rolling.  Heacock has had his ups and downs as the head guy and I feel he is headed toward greener pastures in the next couple of seasons.

If you sit back and think of what Tressel started at YSU, you can understand the enormous pressure Heacock has had to perform under.  Also, figure in Tressel only a few hours away recruiting the prime local talent to play for The Buckeyes.  Heacock is a good recruiter and people should be suprised with the talent he pulled this offseason.  The annual Spring game is Friday and Heacock is anxious to see some of those recruits in action.  Mychal Savage, sidelined all of last year after being injured in the Ohio State opener will be a force to be reckoned with on defense this year.  He will not be participating in Spring activities as he is still recovering from surgery but he should be ready for the season.

YSU suffered a bunch of season-ending surgeries last year, and all of the returning Penguins hope to stay healthy.  Playing Ohio State in the first week can make that a difficult task.

I am really pulling for Coach Heacock to succeed and prove to skeptics in the valley that YSU football is going to be just fine.  Tressel remains one of Heacock’s biggest fans and supporters.  I really like the local flavor Heacock has added to the coaching staff with Jerry Olsavsky and Michael Zordich.  Having coaches who know what it takes gives the players the right frame of mind to perform better.

The Ohio State University is losing James Laurinaitis to the NFL Draft.  The 6’1″, 245 lb. linebacker is a late first round, early second round predicted pick.  Lauranaitis has some accolades earned as a Buckeye to enhance his value.  He won the Nagurski trophy in 2006 and also won the Lombardi trophy, given to the best linebacker in college football in 2007.  Last season as a Jr, Lauranaitis led the Buckeyes in tackles and had 5 sacks and 2 INT.

What is so attractive about Lauranaitis is his ability to drop and read in pass coverage.  He got his hands on a bunch of passes last season and put himself in position to make many big plays.  Against the run, Lauranaitis has been knocked for making plays too far off of the ball.  A good linebacker fills the hole and makes the tackle at the line.  Lauranaitis made all those tackles, but so many were for three to five yard gains.

Many mock drafts I have seen so far have him going #20 overall to Detroit.  The Lions did well drafting Chris Spielman and are really hurting for defense.  The pick would make sense to me.  I have also seen Lauranaitis as high as #14 to New Orleans, which lacks star power on defense, and as low as #24 to Atlanta where defense is the biggest need.

Many are critical to point out that if Lauranaitis came out a year ago, his draft stock would have been much higher, potentially a top-ten pick.  I would say you can never criticize a college athlete for staying in school regardless of how good or ready the scouts feel he may be.